While most luxury brands have long had fragrances for men, Louis Vuitton has finally entered the crowded men's fragrance
arena. It's hard to believe it took them so long, given parent company
LVMH's portfolio of other fragrances tied to their luxury brands like Dior
and Givenchy. LVMH is also the parent company of cosmetics enterprise
Sephora.

In 2016, Louis Vuitton launched a fragrance for women that quickly found
success among their loyal customer base and those who found the fragrance
one of the more accessibly priced things among Louis Vuitton's product
offerings. This May, the fashion house will unveil its first fragrance for
men crafted by master perfumer Jacque Cavallier Belletrud. The
fourth-generation perfumer started his career at age 16, and has been
working on the new Louis Vuitton men's fragrance since 2013.

The launch of Louis Vuitton's men's fragrance comes during a big shift for
their men's business as Off-White's Virgil Abloh has been named creative
director of menswear for the brand. Abloh will debut his first menswear
collection for the brand at Paris Fashion Week Men's in June.

As men are becoming more invested in fashion thanks to the rise of
streetwear culture, they are becoming more invested in their fragrances as
well. "Men are becoming more sophisticated," Belletrud said to the South
China Morning Post. "In the same way they buy interesting shoes and clothes
now they do it with perfumes. Those who don’t know still go for the sporty,
commercial fragrances, but now more men are not afraid of trying new things
and are attracted to what you would have considered feminine fragrances in
the past. Men worldwide want to achieve sophistication and find a perfume
that will be their ambassador in their social life and with lovers."

The company is hoping that these fragrances will resonate well with East
Asian consumers in a market that is considered priority for luxury brands,
but where fragrances haven't always been a big part of market share.
However, according to Belletrud, LVMH has been successful with their
fragrances in Asia recently. Louis Vuitton's men's business is the new tip
of LVMH's iceberg, as they have also installed former Louis Vuitton
menswear director Kim Jones as creative director of Dior Homme, former Dior
Homme creative director Kris van Assche has been named creative director of
Berluti, and Berluti's creative director Haider Ackermann has departed the
company. LVMH has completely overhauled their men's business as menswear
has become a more major frontier in fashion.